Nia
|power_type=Steam |fuel_type=Oil |configuration=2-6-2T |wheels=10 |top_speed=50 mph |designer(s)= |builder(s)=Vulcan Foundry |year_built=1926-1930 |arrived_on_sodor= |number=18 |railway=North Western Railway |owner(s)= }}Nia is a Kenyan tank engine who befriended and accompanied Thomas on his journey around the world. She is now a permanent resident on the North Western Railway. Biography *Click here to see Nia’s coverage. Personality Nia is an adventurous and fun engine who teaches Thomas about friendship. Whether she is in her homeland of Africa or travelling around the world, Nia is positive and thoughtful. Her eagerness to help can sometimes irritate her friends, but her truthfulness and kind heart always win them over. She is a good problem solver, although she once had trouble reading numbers until Annie and Clarabel helped her. Technical Details Basis Nia is based on the KUR ED1 class, a class of 2-6-2 tank locomotive built by Vulcan Foundry for the Kenya-Uganda Railway between 1926 and 1930. Primarily used for shunting duties, they were also used to haul branch line trains. They were later operated by the East African Railways and were reclassified as part of the EAR 11 class. One member of this class, No. 327, has been preserved at the Nairobi Railway Museum in Nairobi, Kenya. Nia has been modified in order to work on British railways. Whereas her original basis was metre gauge, Nia is standard gauge and she has been given buffers and screwlink couplings in order to work with the other engines. 9663E764-4BC0-4E3F-83D1-DA609B8C87DC.jpeg|Nia’s basis Livery Nia is painted orange with yellow lining. She has stripes with an African pattern consisting of red, yellow, green and purple painted along her tanks and dome, as well as green and yellow lining on her cylinders and green stripes on her brake pump and her footplate is painted red. Her name and the number "18" are painted on the sides of her tanks and cab respectively in yellow within black squares. Appearances Thomas and Friends *'Season 22' - Forever and Ever, Confusion Without Delay, School of Duck (cameo), Seeing is Believing, Apology Impossible (cameo), Samson and the Fireworks, Thomas' Animal Ark, Hunt the Truck and Counting on Nia Specials *'2018' - Big World! Big Adventures! *'2019' - Thomas & Friends: Wild Style Trivia *Nia's name means "purpose" in Swahili. *Experts at the United Nations and The Royal African Society assisted the production team with creating Nia. *At one point during her creation, Nia was originally going to be called Kessie. *An early test trailer (with footage from it later reused for The Journey Never Ends) and certain merchandise lines depict her with red wheels, due to the fact, Nia's concept art have her with red wheels. *Nia is the first engine to have a female crew member. *She is the only member of the Steam Team to arrive on Sodor from a country outside the UK. *Nia is currently the only member of the Steam Team to have a snowplough that is not the same colour as her. She is also the third engine to have one, as Thomas briefly had a rusty grey one in It's Only Snow and Spencer has a black plough. *She is the second character to get a regular singing double. Marion being the first. *Nia's number originates from the year her first appearance in Big World! Big Adventures! was released; 2018. Category:Characters